Stocks Close Up, Nearing Record Highs

By Sam Mamudi

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index both finished up on Tuesday.

The Dow gained 72.49 points, or 0.52%, to close at 13,954.42, its highest closing level since Oct. 15, 2007. The Dow’s just 1.5% off its all-time closing high of 14,164.53, hit on Oct. 9, 2007.

The S&P 500 gained 0.51% to register its highest close, 1,507.84, since Dec. 10, 2007. The index is slowly but surely nearing its Oct. 9, 2007 record close of 1,565.15.

Shares of BP (BP) closed up 1.9% after a judge approved a deal that will see BP admit some guilt in the Gulf of Mexico disaster in 2010, and pay $4 billion:

The company had said previously it would plead guilty to 11 felony counts related to the workers’ deaths, a felony related to obstruction of Congress and two misdemeanors. It also faces five years’ probation and the imposition of two monitors who will oversee its safety and ethics for the next four years.

Ford Motor (F) lost 4.6% today after otherwise positive earnings that were marred by a wider-than-expected loss in Europe, and a warning that 2013 could be even worse.

After looking as if it was completely over the plunge it took after Bill Ackman announced he’d shorted the stock, Herbalife (HLF) is falling again, off 3.4% today and now down 11% this week (though still up 17% this month). That may explain this:

Herbalife Ltd., the nutrition company that hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman has called a pyramid scheme, has registered several domain names that include the activist investor’s name.

Domain names such as therealbillackman.com and billackman.net were acquired by Herbalife as of Jan. 18, according to www.domainsearch.com. The websites are blank…

Ackman quickly took issue with the Herbalife domain names.

“What legitimate company would do something like that,” he said today in a telephone interview. “The spotlight is on Herbalife and they are doing everything they can do to turn it away.”

Ackman has his own website: factsaboutherbalife.com.

Also in the news today was Richard Handler…don’t know who he is? Well, he’s not only the CEO of Jefferies Group (JEF), but after earning $19 million last year — a 36% increase from 2011 — he’s one of Wall Street’s highest paid executives.

In its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the investment bank, which agreed to be bought by Leucadia National Corp., said Mr. Handler will receive a $13 million long-term equity-incentive award as well as a $5 million cash bonus and $1 million in base salary.

The big pay increase means Mr. Handler will take home more than J.P. Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO James Dimon and Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO James Gorman. Mr. Dimon had his compensation slashed sharply, to $11.5 million, amid the fallout over a trading debacle that cost the nation’s largest bank more than $6 billion. Mr. Gorman is expected to receive less than the $10.5 million he was granted for 2011, according to a person familiar with his pay package.

About Stocks To Watch

Earnings reports, corporate strategies and analyst insights are all part of what moves stocks, and they’re all covered by the Stocks to Watch blog. We also look at macro issues, investor sentiments and hidden trends that are affecting the market. Stocks to Watch gives you the full picture of the U.S. stock markets, all day long.

The blog is written by Ben Levisohn, a former stock trader who has covered financial markets for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and BusinessWeek.